


secret santa

by dprjeno



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, NCT Dream - Freeform, nomin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 20:41:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17148761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dprjeno/pseuds/dprjeno
Summary: the dreamies plan to do secret santa, and jeno picks out jaemin, his longtime crush. he uses this opportunity as a way to confess.





	secret santa

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first ao3 fic that i'm publishing, i hope you enjoy! also, happy holidays!

20 days until christmas.

excitement and joy filled the air as the seven boys chuckled and threw pieces of paper with their names written on them into a hat.

“so, who goes first?” chenle asks, eager to pick out a name in the hat.

“i’ll go,” renjun impatiently reaches into the hat, shuffling through the crumpled paper and pulling out a name. everyone stared at him, wondering which name he picked out. renjun snickers and crumples the paper, shoving it into his pocket.

“my turn,” jaemin smiles and picks out a paper. they all do this, one person after another, all of them happy with their results. until there was one more left.

“guess that’s mine,” jeno says, picking out the last name. when he opens it, he feels his heart flutter, seeing the written name: _jaemin_. jeno immediately starts planning out the perfect gift for jaemin, until donghyuck interrupts his thoughts.

“you know it would’ve been way faster if we all picked at once,” donghyuck stated.

“well, do you wanna restart?” mark asks.

“no!” everyone else replies in unison, obviously pleased with their secret santa person.

—

jeno walks home with a smile on his face, as he mentally continues his plan for jaemin’s gift. he wanted to be the perfect secret santa, especially for jaemin.

“jeno!” a voice calls out. jeno’s stomach is instantly filled with butterflies. jeno never really liked his name, until he heard it come out of jaemin’s mouth. he turns around and sees jaemin with a huge smile on his face. his endearing smile was contagious, never failing to make jeno smile back at him.

“are you happy with who you picked out?” jaemin asks as he jogs to catch up with jeno.

“more than,” jeno giggles. oh the irony, he thinks. jaemin laughs with jeno, having no clue what he was thinking about. they both walk side by side in silence for the rest of the trip, enjoying each other’s silent but the comfortable company.

—

  
18 more days

jeno gazes over at jaemin as he intently focuses on the lecture. for some reason, jeno couldn’t focus at all. was it because jaemin was in the same room? or was he stressed about the fact that he couldnt figure out the perfect gift for jaemin? the bell rings, making jeno jump in his seat. he hears a laugh coming from the other side of the classroom.

“ah, jeno, focus next time,” jaemin teasingly says as he runs over to him, and ruffles his hair. jeno feels himself blush and he gathers his supplies. everyone else runs out of the classroom, barely pushing in their chairs, just to get to the lunch line.

“hungry?” jaemin asks jeno, who is still taking his sweet time putting his books into his bag. “my mom made extra food if you wanna share.” jeno nods, zipping up his bag. they both take their time walking to their usual hangout spot for lunch, where the other five boys were waiting. renjun is the first to greet them, making a joke about the two. jaemin brushes the joke off, but it makes jeno blush even harder.

jaemin sits next to jeno on the 3rd row of the bleacher, as he always does. jeno can feel his heart start to race. the littlest actions that jaemin did always have an impact on jeno, he was incredibly whipped for this boy. the seven of them start to chat, although jeno doesn’t speak much, he always listens to everyone. jaemin always finds a way to make jeno start engaging in the conversation, which is one of the qualities that jeno admires in jaemin. he always made jeno feel like he belonged.

“how’s everyone’s christmas gifts coming?” jaemin asks while unwrapping his sandwich, giving the bigger piece to jeno.

jeno smiles and takes a huge bite.

“expensive, literally you aren’t gonna believe what i got,” chenle replies.

“yeah right, last night you were texting me saying you were struggling to find a gift for-“ renjun starts, but gets cut off by chenle jumping on him.

the rest of the boys laugh at them and continue with their conversation. jeno quietly observes and listens to everyone and continues to eat his half of the sandwich. the bell eventually rings, and the boys jump up to collect their trash and get to class.

“see you guys later!” jisung yells and dashes into the crowd of students.

“ah underclassmen, always eager to get to class early,” renjun chuckles. the rest of them laugh at renjun’s banter then slowly walk to their last remaining class of the day.

—

  
13 more days

“so, what are you getting jaemin for christmas?” renjun asks, walking next to him, both on the way to the same class.

jeno gives a puzzled look. “how’d you know?”

“dude it’s so obvious, you looked especially happy when you picked out his name from the hat,” renjun chuckled. jeno squints at him. “okay fine, i peeked when you opened up the paper!”

jeno rolls his eyes. the two of them remain unbothered by the sound of the tardy bell ringing, signaling that they were late for class. four years of hearing the same bell every few hours for five days a week didn't seem to phase them. besides, it was an art class, and the teacher loved them. especially renjun, who was especially talented in drawing and painting almost anything. they continued to walk at the same pace, nearing their classroom. renjun breaks the silence between them as they walk into class.

“hey, you never answered my-” renjun gets cut off.

“class, i’m giving you the whole period to start on your winter themed paintings! please make sure it’s appropriate, and— oh renjun! jeno! nice of you to join us,” their art teacher greets them with a smile on her face, with no sarcasm in her voice at all. they were minutes late after the bell, but she was always happy when they showed up to class, no matter what. favoritism as its finest.

renjun and jeno both apologize for disrupting the class and walking in late, but their teacher excuses them without any hesitation. renjun rushes to his seat, excited to start drafting his winter project. jeno sits right behind him, setting his bag down under his desk and starts to wonder about jaemins gift rather than starting on his draft for art class.

“you should draw him something,” renjun says, interrupting jeno’s thoughts. jeno ignored him, knowing he couldn’t draw to save his life.

—

10 more days.

the idea comes to jeno as he’s walking home, passing by the cafe jeno and jaemin first met. jeno feels his cheeks heat up from excitement, walking into the cafe.

—

8 more days.

jaemin receives a gift card from the cafe, along with a cute mug in his locker, addressed to him. a small note card falls out of the mug.

_i know this isn’t much, but this is just your first gift. more gifts will be coming, from your secret santa._

at first, jaemin was puzzled yet very excited for what was coming next. he folds the note card with a smirk on his face and carefully puts the mug back into his locker.

—

6 more days.

the next gift wasn’t what jaemin first expected. it came around during lunchtime, where he and the 6 boys always ate at school. as he opens his bento box, another note card falls out.

“your mom made you lunch again?” donghyuck questions.

“apparently it’s one of my secret santa gifts,” jaemin replies.

“i wonder which one of us would go this far in gifts,” donghyuck chuckles, nudging jeno.

jeno nudges donghyuck back, hoping jaemin wouldn’t notice. luckily, jaemin was too invested in the neatly sorted bento box made for him.

“oh, that looks so good!” renjun comments, about to dig in with his chopsticks until jaemin slaps his hands away.

“mine!” jaemin possessively says, facing away from renjun, hogging the bento box all to himself. he picks up the notecard and unfolds it.

_like i said, more gifts would be coming, enjoy._  
_p.s. don’t worry, i didn’t forget about your sweets. check the bag. from, your secret santa._

jaemin folds the notecard and checks the bag filled with chocolates and lollipops. to his surprise, there weren’t any candy canes or anything remotely festive. although, he felt his heart warm up and he was truly grateful at how much his secret santa planned for him.

—

4 more days.

it was saturday, and jaemin didn’t expect to receive a third gift, especially because his secret santa would have to come over to his house.

it was just after noon until his doorbell rings. he was home alone, so he had no other choice other than to open the door himself. he jogs down the stairs, and unlocks the door, revealing who was waiting on the other side.

jaemin was shocked to see mark in his pajamas, holding a wrapped gift and a rose.

“you’re my secret santa?” jaemin asks. he was half joking, knowing mark wouldn’t do all this stuff for him.

“no, just the messenger, he forced me all the way here,” mark sighs, handing him the gift and rose.he was shivering, being only in his pajamas and furry bunny slippers donghyuck got him when mark constantly complained about how no one got him any cute gifts. jaemin chuckled at the sight of his older friend, whose outfit resembled a 10-year-old. “merry christmas jaemin, see you on monday?”

“you and the guys are coming over ri-” the door slams before jaemin gets to finish his sentence. he looks down at the rose and the wrapped gift. the notecard was taped to the gift this time.

_you remind me of the rose in the little prince. ah, i just spoiled your gift. guess you have to open it now. you’ll figure out what the rose means once you finish the book. from, your secret santa._

as excited and happy he is jaemin waits for a little to open his 3rd gift. he wondered if this was the last one, although his secret santa didn’t specify how many gifts he was receiving, he thought that he had received enough.

a few hours passed and jaemin had nothing else to do, so he decided that he should open his 3rd gift. he thought he might as well wait till christmas, but curiosity was eating him. he ripped through the holiday wrapping paper and it revealed, to no surprise, a copy of the little prince. the first thought that came to mind was jeno, but then he doubted himself. maybe it was renjun, who always liked reading books during study hall.

nonetheless, jaemin placed the rose that laid next to the book in a small vase he found in the kitchen and filled it up with water. he proceeds to open the book, already indulged in the storyline. an hour passed when jaemin reached the last page, wondering if his secret santa actually finished the book.

—

1 more day.

it was finally christmas eve when jaemin decided that the rose, which was now dead, and the book were his last gifts from his secret santa. six of his friends came over to have their annual christmas party, just the seven of them altogether. this one was special since their friend mark was going away for college. none of them came empty-handed, but jaemin figured that his secret santa had spent enough on him this christmas.

it was the end of the night where they all gathered around to play mafia as tradition. it used to be monopoly, until 14 year old renjun got tired of losing monopoly money and threw a tantrum, also the monopoly board, after attempting to rip it in half. it was a pretty serious game for them, which led to them fighting on christmas eve until mark decided that mafia would be more of a civil game for them.

playing mafia was something they all enjoyed, some of them better at lying than others. most people would have gotten tired of it after years of playing it with the same group of people, but they all enjoyed each others company and never got tired of each other. their chemistry was unbelievable and unbreakable.

“hey, it’s 10 o’clock,” jisung says, interrupting the mafia game.

they ended their last game for the night and rushed to the christmas tree. the first gift was to mark, from all six of them. they all saved up to buy mark a new laptop since he was going away for college. the laptop costed a fortune, and it was definitely not easy saving up, but it was the least they could do for their eldest friend.

jaemin was mark’s secret santa, and he bought mark a laptop case along with airpods to go with his expensive laptop. they continued to exchange their secret santa gifts. donghyuck had renjun, renjun had chenle, chenle had jisung, and jisung had jeno. jaemin eventually figured out that jeno was his. although, he was nowhere to be found.

“this is the most exciting gift,” renjun exclaimed.

jaemin was confused at first until jeno comes in with a ryan plushie and the very last notecard. jeno nervously hands jaemin the card, which was larger than the other notecards he received as everyone watches the two of them with excitement. jaemin slowly unfolds the notecard and reads it to himself.

jaemin, this is the very last gift. i knew you thought i wasn’t listening to when you said your favorite kakao friends character was ryan, but i remember the little details you tell me about yourself. the first gift consisted of a mug and gift card, which seemed like a simple gift, but it came from the cafe where we first met. we were only 10 when you offered to pay for my hot chocolate because i was a dollar short. this gift card makes up for the hot chocolate you bought me. you were always kind to me then, and i knew that you would become a precious friend of mine. the bento box was filled with all your favorite foods, including the sweets you constantly brought to school when we were in middle school.

i’m sure you were dumbfounded at the little prince gift, with the rose. the rose signifies friendship, love, and attachment. think of me as the little prince. although the little prince takes care of the rose, i’d like to think we take care of each other. many events happen and later in the book, the little prince realizes that the rose is special to him and that he cherished the memories he had with the rose. despite the tragic ending, i hope you realize that what i’m trying to say is that you are my rose.

if you haven’t noticed, i like you jaemin. have you read the first word of each letter i sent in order? you probably didn’t catch that, but here is my confession from me to you.

merry christmas,

love, jeno

jaemin looks up at jeno with tears in his eyes, feeling his heartbeat grow faster and louder.

“i like you, jaemin,” jeno finally mutters out loud. “you don’t have to say anything, but i just wanted y-”

“i like you too jeno,” jaemin cuts him off. “i’ve liked you ever since i knew that it was possible to like guy friends in a romantic way.”

“oh my god, it’s a christmas miracle,” chenle gushes. their five friends burst into joy, squealing like a bunch of teenage girls.

jeno sighs out loud, bringing jaemin into a hug, the ryan plushie squeezing in between them. chenle, donghyuck, jisung, renjun and mark join the hug and they all jump around, screaming with triumph.

the day.

a few hours past and it’s finally midnight. they all finish their christmas tradition, walking around seoul, admiring the city lights and christmas decorations. jaemin slips his hand into jeno’s, startling the older boy. jaemin holds jeno back, letting the rest of them go in front. they keep a slow pace behind their friends, and jaemin starts to speak up.

“i’m glad you were the first one to confess, i don’t think i would’ve, ever… i appreciate you so much,” jaemin softly says.

jeno stops and faces jaemin.

“i appreciate you too… i love you more than you’ll ever know,” jeno says.

“i love you so much, merry christmas jeno.”

“merry christmas, jaemin.”

the gap between them closes, jaemin pecking jeno on the cheek as the night sky lightens upwith christmas fireworks. their five friends exclaimed in shock over the beautiful fireworks on christmas night, but all the two can focus on is each other, their hearts beating louder than ever.

 


End file.
